The boys 8th birthday party

The boys birthday was on February 5th and we celebrated in the morning with a fun birthday breakfast with Grandma, Papa and Auntie. Of course we had "eggies on toast" (poached eggs on toast) which is a favorite! Later that night we had our own little family party and the boys got nerf swords from Daddy and Mommy. Not wanting to be left out, Daddy had to buy one for himself too :):) Oh the battle that took place when they got those!! Wish I had a picture of them...but alas...I don't. Then we watched Ice Age 3 which the kids requested to watch.

Today we had the birthday party at a Fremont bowling alley. How fun is this picture!

Happy Birthday Caleb and Joshua!!

Caleb and Joshua received these electric guitars from the Greenhouses and they LOVED them! The boys have played the video game "rock star" ?? Not sure if that is the name or not. Anyway, you play an electric guitar in it and the boys have really enjoyed playing it...so these guitars will provide them with hours and hours of fun!

Love this picture just because of the look on Joshua's face. So funny! I guess he liked what he got:):)


Here are all the friends. It was a fun party. Thanks everyone!

Field Trip Week

Well...I feel like I haven't blogged FOREVER...so here is a little update on what the Epps Clan has been up to recently. A few weeks back, Charley took the week off of work and we had a "fun" week. We went to the library, we went to the Exploratorium, and we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I had not been to the Exploratorium....probably since about junior high....so it was fun to go back and show the kids all the fun stuff.
My lovely little red headed girl getting blown away:):)


The Palace of Fine Arts...do you see my little "ant" children??


Just being funny

All my sweet kiddos

Unfortunately, that same week, all of the girls (including myself) got colds. Mine was the worse with an INTENSE sinus headache. However, not wanting to miss going on some good field trips and having a wonderful thing called Claritan D and Ibuprofin :):), we went anyway. Once again the Monterey Bay Aquarium did not disappoint!!

*Don't know if you know this or not, but it is the male sea horse that actually gives birth. We were standing by one of the exhibits talking to one of the volunteers when Charley says, "One of the sea horses is giving birth!" Low and behold he was!! They looked like teeny tiny bubbles coming out of him. However, as the volunteer had been talking about, the other fish that was in the tank pretty much ate them up before they went very far. I guess that is their method of "birth control" for the sea horses. It was very interesting to see. Will probably never see it again!

The kids really enjoyed seeing the new sea horse display.

The kids also, depending on their age and ability, wrote reports about some of the things we saw there. I printed off some coloring pictures from the MBA website, the kids colored them in the car on the way there, and then they wrote some things about the sea life (from the info that they read about the sea life at each exhibit) that they had decided to write about. Kristina did her first "bigger" report and even typed it out...for the first time. I printed out some of the pictures we had taken and glued them to the writing pages. They turned out so good! Even Anna did a little report :)

For lunch, we went to Bubba Gumps which is just down the street from the aquarium.

Anna and Kristina

Me and my honey at Bubba Gumps

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Josh Pietzke

Yesterday we attended the wedding of my cousin Jamie to Josh Pietzke. The wedding was held at Scotts Garden in Walnut Creek. I have never been to a wedding quite like it before...but it was VERY nice! We actually sat at our tables for the wedding. Very pretty place!


Jamie was glowing and her smile was infectious! She truly was a BEE-U-TEE-FULL bride! :):) Uncle Pete looked quite dashing himself.


The Bridesmaids/Matrons
l-r: a friend of Jamie's that I didn't know, Michelle Brown-Widman, Jodie Milburn-Martin, & Ashley Milburn



"with a gentle and quiet spirit...." "Hey! Who put that in there?" says Jamie. "I just had him slip it in," says Josh.:)


Josh, you may now kiss your bride!

Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Pietzke!!

The Dean and Milburn Clan

Grandma and Grandpa Milburn

Still in love after almost 70 years!

The Cake...see the reflection of the cake on the utensils? Does that mean I'm a good photographer? NO..it just means that I was really fortunate to get that shot:)

Me and my honey

Drew and Jodie (sister of the bride) Martin


Jamie and Grandma Milburn

I'm thinking that this is a framer!! How sweet!

Uncle Pete and Auntie Terri

Uncle Tom and Auntie Claire

Uncle Pete, Dave Breuninger, and Uncle Tom

The Milburn Cousins

top: Eric Milburn, Jodie Milburn-Martin, Courtney Milburn-Gruss

bottom: Lindsay Williams, Stacey Epps, Jamie Milburn-Pietzke, Ashley Milburn

They were NOT kind:):)

Instead of throwing the garter and the bouquet, they asked for all the married couples to stand up. Then, they asked who had been married the least amount of time. The garter was given to Jamie's cousin Holly who had been married for 3 1/2 months. Then, they started going up in numbers trying to see who had been married the longest. My parents and grandparents were the last ones standing. My parents have been married 42 years..so at that point, they sat down and it was just my grandparents standing. The guy kept going up the number line...one number at a time. It was so funny...because then, my grandma started counting with him in her funny/silly grandma kind of way (you had to be there) until he got up to 70. Sooo...with all that explanation....my grandparents were given the bouquet.

In March of 2010, my grandparents will have been married for 70 years!! Can you believe it?! The Lord has TRULY blessed them and I am SOOO thankful for them!

Grandma, Me, and Grandpa

Grandma, Me, and Grandpa....we were ALL supposed to do a silly picture...but it looks like I was the only one who did...Oh Well...good memories:):)

"Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as it is becoming in the Lord to do. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh toward them." Colossians 3:18-19

Congratulations Josh and Jamie! My prayer is that you will follow the Lord's "instruction manual" in your marriage. What better way to start your marriage then to follow the One who created it. Love you!!

Christmas

We had SUCH a relaxing Christmas break this year. We were able to finish all of our school work BEFORE the break began, so we didn't have anything hanging over our heads (in the way of schooling). Obviously, we had to prepare for Christmas a.k.a clean, cook, wrap presents, etc., but we were able to spread out the work with the fun. All of the kids, except Anna, got new bikes as they were in need of upgrades since they are growing like weeds! Anna got new training wheels, tires, and a new bike helmet:):) I must admit that it was very hard to get back into the school routine after having such a relaxing 2 weeks off. We have now been back to school for 2 weeks and I think we are finally back into the swing of things.

Popping Popcorn on the Cob!!

How cool is this!! Tonight we popped the popcorn that we literally picked off the stalk at Ardenwood's Harvest Festival. Yummy!!

My cousin Jamie's Bridal Shower

Today was my cousin Jamie's bridal shower. She looks so happy and confident in God's will for her life in becoming Josh's wife. I am so happy for you Jamie! May the Lord bless your new life together as you live and work together for Him!


It was a black and white shower so everyone wore black and white (with a few variations:) and pretty much every one's package was black and white (with a bit of purple thanks to Bed Bath and Beyond wrapping:):).


Jamie and Me

Sisters! Ashley, Jamie, & Jodie


Are you sure there aren't 4 Milburn sisters?? Auntie Terri joined them in this picture.

Momma Milburn and her "little" girl:)

We had the shower at Jamie's cousin Michelle Widman's house.

Michelle, Pam (with Michelle's little guy Henry), Kelly (Michelle's mom and my Auntie Terri's sister)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year. Not that every Thanksgiving isn't nice...but this year was special. We had my Grandpa and Grandma Milburn AND my Grandma Williams! What a treat!


We put our new table to good use as there were 14 people in all.


Grandma Milburn, Grandma Williams, & Grandpa Milburn


Here we all are! Even Buster got in on this family picture. Pretty amazing that we all are looking at the camera, our eyes are open and most of us are smiling.:):) A small miracle!!
Back Row: Bryn Williams, Joshua Epps, Caleb Epps, Charley Epps
Middle Row: Carol Williams w/ Anna Epps, Ruth Milburn, Betty Williams, Binky Scott w/Buster Epps:), Bob Milburn
Front Row: Lindsay Williams, Abby Epps, Kristina Epps, Stacey Epps

We took the opportunity to take our family Christmas photo...look for it in a mailbox near you:)

My sweet girlies

My handsome boys

Me and my handsome hubby:):)....well he is! :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! So much to be thankful for!